Air conditioners



May 17, 1960 J. M. swEEDYK AIR CONDITIONERS Filed Dec. 14, 1956 3 SheetsjSheet x w a5 C INVENTO z/Awes Minna w BY May 17, 1960 J. M. SWEEDYK 2,936,693

AIR CoNnITIoNERs Filed nec. 14,' 1956 s sheets-sheet 2 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 14, 1956 INVENTQR :jm/es 5f/afan( Mfvw ATTORNEYS AIR CGNDITIONERS Mich., assigner to Hupp Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation ol Vir This invention relates to room air conditioners, and more specifically to apparatus for controlling the flow of air in such air conditioners including front panels provided with louver structures which may be adjusted to direct and regulate the iiow of air discharged from the air conditioner.

Conventional room air conditions such as the units usually located upon window sills or adjacent windows are generally effective only for air conditioning relatively small spaces, such as small apartments or individual rooms of ofces, or houses. To avoid objectionable currents of cool air toward persons or objects within such rooms, most room air conditioners are provided with some means for deecting the stream of cool air discharged therefrom. However, since the usual location and the number of persons within any particular room may vary, it is evident that to provide satisfactory air conditioning at all times, the air conditioning apparatus must be equipped with effective control means, not only for adjusting the direction of air ow but also for regulating `the amount of cool air discharged into the room. At the same time, cool air must be introduced into the room in a manner which will create favorable conditions for venting the room of warm air. It is also desirable at times to exhaust stale or smoke laden air from the room to the outside so that the room may be replenished with clean fresh air. It is these problems to which the present invention is directed.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide an improved air conditioner having a front panel which is equipped with adjustable air ilow control means yadapted to direct the ilow and regulate the volume of cool air discharged into a room by the air conditioner.

Another object is to provide an air conditioner front panel having louvered sections for directing the flow of air into and out of an air conditioning apparatus, one of the sections being adjustable for producing an eiective circulation of cool air within a room, and for permitting ecient operation of the apparatus in removing warm air from that room.

A further object is to provide an adjustable louver structure for room air conditioners, the louvers being simultaneously adjustable between open and closed positions for controlling the amount and direction of cool air introduced into a room, and the entire louver structure being rotatably carried by the iront panel of the air conditioner. It is also a speciic object of the present invention to provide means for maintaining the louvers in any selected position despite the variable force of the air deilected by the angled louvers.

A still further object is to provide an adjustable louver structure for air conditioner front panels which may be easily assembled and disassembled to facilitate repair or replacement of the louver structure parts.

It is also an object to provide an improved air conditioner having a duct by which the air leaving the blower maybe split to direct a part of the air into the room and `and upwardly (Figure 3).

2,936,693 Patented May 17, 1960 to direct the remaining air to the exterior of the room and air flow control members for regulating the quantity of air llowing in each path.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an adjustable louver structure in the front panel of an air conditioner which, when closed, creates a back pressure in the region of the exhaust air door to substantially increase the rate at which stale air may be exhausted from the room.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of an air conditioner front panel having adjustable air ow control means constituting a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a broken vertical cross sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is another broken vertical cross sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a broken rear elevation of the rotatable louver structure shown in Figure l;

Figure 5 is a broken exploded perspective View showing details of construction of the rst embodiment of this invention;

Figure 6 is a front elevation of a louver structure and illustrating a second form of the invention;

Figure 7 is a broken view taken in vertical cross section, and showing the structural arrangements of the second embodiment;

.Figure 8 is a Vbroken exploded perspective view showing constructional details of the louver structure shown in Figures 6 and 7; and

Figure 9 is a semi-diagrammatic horizontal section showing the air circulation pattern within the air conditioner.

In the embodiment of lthe present invention represented in Figures l1 5, the letter A generally designates a front panel of a room air conditioner. Preferably, the panel is provided with a peripheral border or molding :1&1 which projects forwardly from the face of the panel and extends continuously thereabout. As shown in Figure l, the front panel is also provided with an inner horizontal molding 11 and an inner vertical molding 12. Above horizontal molding 11 and extending across the face of the front panel is a door 13 equipped with a handle 14, and behind this door may be mounted the control knobs for operating the air conditioner.

Below the horizontal inner molding is a pair of louvered sections generally represented by the letters B and C, respectively, and separated from each other by vertical molding 12. Section C has therein an adjustable louvered section D which embodies an important part of this invention and will be hereinafter described. Section B of the panel essentially comprises a grill having a plurality of vertical members 15 traversed by a plurality of horizontal louvers 16. This grill is mounted directly in front of the room air intake duct of an air conditioner apparatus. Warm air is withdrawn from the room through the grill of section B, either to be cooled by the air conditioning unit and circulated back into the room through sections C and D or exhausted to the 'outside at the discretion of the occupants of the room by novel air directional means to be hereinafter described. As` best shown Figure 2 the horizontal louvers 16 are angled forwardly and downwardly in order that air may be drawn from the lower portions of the room.

Like section B, front panel section C comprises a' grill having spaced vertical members 17 and horizontal louvers 18. However, vertical members 17 are spaced more closely than members 15, and in contrast to the louvers of section B, horizontal louvers 18 are angled forwardly Therefore, cool air discharged from the air conditioner directly behind panel assaess j section C will be directed upwardly and forwardly by the peripheral grill portion surrounding section D. Since louvers 13 deflect the cool air upwardly, and since the closely spaced vertical members 17 direct the stream of cool air forwardly, there is little if any intermixing of the cool air introduced into a room through the peripheral grill portion and warm air withdrawn from the room through louver section B.

As illustrated in Figure 3, panel section C is provided with 'an annular wall 19` defining a central opening 20 therethrough. This opening rotatably receives the adjustable louver section D. The adjustable louver structure comprises a perimetric frame or rim 21l defining a flow port therethrough in communication with opening 20, a plurality of parallel louvers 22, a central frame member 23 traversing the longitudinal axes of the louvers and extending between opposite sides of the perimetric frame, and means for pivoting louvers 22 into selected angular positions.

As shown in Figure 5, louvers 22 are arranged in longitudinally aligned pairs, and have their inner ends connected by central shafts 24. At their outer ends, the louvers are equipped with shafts or pins 25 in longitudinal alignment with the central shaft connecting each pair of the louvers. The louvers are preferably hollow, and may be formed from strips of a suitable material such as polystyrene, which have been joined together along opposite longitudinal edge portions. It is evident, therefore, that the shafts 24 and 25 provided by each pair of louvers may be portions of a single rod or shaft which passes through the paired louvers, and is cemented or otherwise secured thereto. If desired, the paired louvers and shafts 24 and 25 may be formed together as an integral unit.

Frame member 23 has a generally U-shaped cross section, and is preferably provided with a central recess 26 -along the front surface thereof. Along the parallel rear edges of the frame member are uniformly spaced pairs of notches 27 which are adapted to receive the central shafts 24 of the paired louvers. The perimetric frame 21 is equipped with similar notches 28 for rotatably receiving the outer shafts 25 provided by each pair of louvers. Consequently, each of the louvers 22 is rotatably carried by the perimetric frame and central frame member, and may be pivoted along its longitudinal axis between open and closed position. The pivotally mounted louvers may be maintained in operative positions by stirrups 28a (Figures 4 and 5). Each of the stirrups may be formed from metal or other suitable material, and is provided with pointed prongs 29 at each of the four corners thereof. The arched stirrups are adapted to receive central shafts 24 so that when the stirrups are urged into the channel 30 defined by the central frame member 23, prongs 29 frictionally engage the frame member and hold the louvers in operative position.

Each of the paired louvers 2.2 is urged into an open position by a generally U-shaped spring 31. As illustrated in Figure 5, the parallel rear edges of the frame member have paired notches 32 for accommodating the base portions of the U-shaped springs. The legs of each spring pass in front of the central shaft 24 and between frame member 23 and the paired louvers. End portions 33 of the springs project outwardly or laterally, and engage the rear surfaces of the louvers adjacent the to-p edges thereof as shown in Figure 4. Springs 31 thereby urge the top portions of the louvers forwardly and bias those louvers into open positions.

An elongated channel-shaped closure bar or member 34 is movably mounted directly behind central frame member 23, and (as best shown in Figure 4) is slightly wider than the frame member. Those portions of the closure member which project laterally beyond the frame member engage the rearwardly biased lower edges of `louvers 22 (Figure 3). Since the lower inner edg of the louvers are urged `against the closure member by springs 31, it is apparent that upon forward and rearward movement of the closure member with respect to the pivotal axes of the louvers, the louvers will pivot between open and closed positions.

The means for driving the closure bar forwardly and rearwardly comprises a shaft 3S threaded along its rear end portion and equipped with a knob 36 at its forward end. If desired, the knob and shaft may be integrally formed. They front portion of the shaft is freely received ty here 'which extends through the frame member 23 and communicates with central recess 26. The rear portion of the shaft is threadedly received by the closure member, and projects rearwardly through that member. To prevent the shaft and closure member from becoming disconnected, the rear end of the shaft may be grooved to receive a clip 38. Along the front edge of perimetric frame 21 is a continuous peripheral groove 39. This groove slidably receives the inner edge of an annular collar 40. The outer edge of the collar is equipped with tabs 41 which are hooked upon wall 19 of the front panel and securely anchor the annular collar thereon. The annular collar in turn holds the perimetric frame to the remainder of the front panel, but permits free rotation of that frame within the circular opening 2i) defined by Wall 19.

From the foregoing, it is believed apparent that the adjustable louver structure of the present invention is well adapted to direct and regulate theiiow of cool air discharged into a room by the air conditioning apparatus. By merely gripping the forwardly projecting portions of the Icentral frame member and turning that member, louver structure D may be rotated to vary the direction of the cool air streaming forwardly between the adjustable louvers. Further directional control may be achieved by rotating knob 36 to alter the pitch or angle of the louvers pivotally carried by the perimetric frame `and frame member.

In addition to providing directional control of the air stream, the rotation of knob 36 and the resultant variation in louver pitch enlarges or decreases the size of the openings between the parallel louvers. Consequently, the amount of cool air discharged into a room through the adjustable louver structure may be varied by operation of control knob 36. For example, it has been found that with a 3/r-horsepower air conditioning unit, 280 cubic feet of air is displaced in one minute when the adjustable louvers are fully opened, and only cubic feet of air is displaced in one minute when the louvers are closed.

It will be noticed that even though adjustment of louvers 22 has a substantial effect upon the amount of air displaced by an air conditioning unit, a considerable amount of air streams forwardly through the peripheral grill portion of panel section C when the louvers of section D are fully closed. This flow of air through the peripheral grill portion prevents undesirable effects in the operation of an air conditioner unit, such as evaporator freeze-up, which might otherwise be produced if the outiiow of cool air was completely shut off while the machine was in operation.

The reduction in the flowrof air produced by closing the louvers also facilitates rapid withdrawal of stale air from the room as explained in detail hereinafter.

Since the inner ends of louvers 22 Vare of uniform width, and since the closure bar `extends along frame member 23 at a uniform distance therefrom, synchronized operation of all of the pivotally mounted louvers is achieved. Furthermore, since air owing kforwardly between the louvers urges those louvers even more tightly against the closure member, there is no tendency for the louvers to flutter or alter the angle at which they are set. Even though the force of the air stream may vary, springs 31 serve to maintain the louvers in the selected positions.

the adjustable louver structure is equipped with a square frame 42. Like the circular frame already described, frame 42 is provided with a central frame member 43 which may be cemented or otherwise secured to the frame or formed integrally therewith. Both the frame and the central member have corresponding spaced apart notches 44 and 45, respectively adapted to pivotally receive shafts 46 and 47 of louvers 48.

Louvers -43 are generally similar in structure and appearance to the louvers already described. However, as shown best in Figure 8, the central shaft 47 which connects the inner end of the paired louvers, carries a cam member 49. The cam member or lever is notched to receive the base portion of the U-shaped spring 50. The legs of spring 50 are flexed around the lower side of the shaft, and then extend upwardly to seat against the channel-shaped closure member 51. Thus springs 50 urges the paired louvers in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 7, toward open position. However, since the curved end portions of the cam members engage the elongated closure member, the positioning of the paired louvers depends upon the distance between the closure member and the pivotal axis of the louvers. It is to be noted that springs 50 tend to urge the paired louvers forwardly and maintain the shafts 46 and 47 in seated position within notches 44 and 45, respectively. Hence, the stirrups or clips employed in the embodiment shown in Figures l-5 are unnecessary in this form of the invention.

Intermediate the ends of closure member S1 is an opening which threadedly receives the threaded portion of shaft 52. The shaft is rotated by means of a knob 53 which is secured to the front end thereof. The front portion of the shaft which carries knob 53 projects forwardly through frame member 43, which the rear end portion of that shaft continues rearwardly through a support member 54 securely connected to the remainder of the air conditioner front panel. A helical compression spring 55 extends between the support Lmember and the rear end of shaft 52, and urges the entire louver structure into seated relation with respect to the recess defined by walls 56 of the front panel. When the knob and shaft are pulled forwardly with respect to the support member 54, the entire adjustable louver structure will be withdrawn from the recess of the front panel and may then be rotated in either direction about the axis of shaft 52. It is evident that the louver structuremay be rotated and reseated in the front panel recess so that louvers 4S may direct the outflow of cool air in any of four general directions. Further directional control may be achieved by rotating knob 53 independently of frame 42 to vary the pitch of louvers 48. As in the previously described embodiment shown in Figures 1 5, the changing of the pitch or angle of louvers 48 also serves to regulate the amount of cool air flowing outwardly between those louvers.

Figure 9 illustrates the air iiow pattern through the air conditioner indicated generally at 60 and novel means for controlling the flow of air returned to the room and diverted to the exterior of the room. v

The air conditioner 60 is shown mounted in a window 62 of wall 64 defining one side of a room. Warm air is pulled from the room by a fan (not shown) enclosed in a housing 65 into the air conditioner through air inlet section B, over evaporator coils 66, and through venturi 68 which forms the inlet of the fan housing. The cooled air leaving the outlet opening 7G of the fan housing normally follows a path defined by passageway 72 and is circulated back into the room through louver sections C and D.

An exhaust door 74 normally closes an opening 76 which connects passageway 72 to the outside atmosphere. The door 74 is mounted on hinges 75 at the downstream side of opening '76 and extends from the top .to the bottom of passageway 72. When the door is in an open position, it acts as a deector which directs a part of the air flowing along passageway 72 to the outside atmosphere. As shown, the door 74 is of such length that when it is in open position as shown in dotted lines .in Figure 9, it blocks a substantial portion of passageway 72.

The door 74 is opened and closed by means of any suitable linkage which is actuated by shaft 78 manually operable by knob 80 positioned immediately behind the door 13. The linkage between door 74 and shaft 78 may be any of the types well known in the art. such as those actuated by rotating a shaft or by a simple push-pull action with the shaft pivotably connected to the door.

It is a feature of the invention that the flow of air through opening 76 may be increased substantially by moving the adjustable louvers in section D toward closed position. When the louvers are completely closed, a substantial back-pressure is attained, thereby providing for maximum flow of air through opening 76. The amount of back-pressure may of course be controlled by varying the degree of opening of the louvers of section D.

As is apparent from the above description, stale and smoke laden air may be quickly removed from a room by opening door 74 and closing the louvers in section D.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is to be claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

l. ln a front panel for air conditioners and the like, an adjustable louver structure comprising a parimetric frame defining a port through which air ows from the rear to the front thereof, a central frame member extending across said parimetric frame and having its opposite ends rigid with said parimetric frame, rst and second sets of louver structures, said first set of louver structures being positioned in the space bounded by one side of said parimetric frame and said central frame member and the second set of louver structures being positioned in the space bounded by the other side of said central frame member and said parimetric frame, means mounting each of said louver structures for pivotal movement about axes substantially normal to the central frame member, means for yieldably urging each of said louver structures toward open position, a closure member mounted adjacent the rear of said central frame member for bodily movement toward and away from said central frame member, said closure member having means engageable with a portion of each of said louver structures offset from the pivotal axes of said louver structures to thereby simultaneously move all of said louver structures toward their closed positions when said closure member is moved toward said central frame member, a manually operable contro-l member movably mounted on the front side of said central frame member and accessible from the front of said air conditioner, and means extending through said central frame member operably connecting said contnol member to said closure member whereby actuation of said manually operable control member moves said closure member toward and away from said frame member to thereby pivot said louver structures.

2. The structure according to claim l wherein the louver structures `of the rst set are connected to the respective louver structures of the second set by a shaft extending across the central frame member and wherein said louver structures each include a cam member engageable by said closure member.

3. The structure according -to claim l together with means in said front panel mounting said parimetric frame for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to the axisof air flowing through said louver structure.

4. In a front panel for air conditioners and the like, an adjustable louver structure comprising a parimetric frame dening a flow port through which air flows from the rear thereof to the front thereof, a central frame member extending across said parimetric frame and having its opposite ends rigid with said parimetric frame, a plurality of louvers, means mounting said louvers in said parimetric frame and said central frame member for pivotal movement about axes extending at right :logies to said central frame member, means yieldably urging said louvers toward open position, a closure bar mounted adjacent the rearward portion of said central frame for bodily movement toward and away from said central frame member, said closure bar having portions engageable with a portion of each of said louvers offset from their respective pivotal axes to thereby simultaneously move all of said louvers toward said closed position when said closure baris moved toward said central frame member, a manually operable control member movably mounted in said central frame member and accessible from the front thereof, means extending through said central frame member operably connecting said control member to said closure bar to move said closure bar toward and. away from said central frame member upon operation of said control member, and means mounting said parimetric frame in said front panel for rotation about-an axis normal to the axes of said louvers for directing the flow of air passing through said louvers.

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